LSI Launches 6Gbs SAS Switch ($2,495)

LSI Corporation introduced in the channel its 6Gb/s SAS switch. The LSI SAS6160 switch is designed to extend the capabilities of SAS in direct-attached storage (DAS) environments by allowing multiple servers to connect to one or more independent external storage systems. The 6Gb/s SAS switch offers customers a storage networking option for rack-mount server and storage installations in cloud computing, data center and managed hosting application environments.

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The LSI SAS switch helps customers to optimize storage resource utilization, reduce islands of storage and simplify storage management, backup and upgrades by enabling storage resources to be shared across multiple servers and managed effectively through SAS zoning. The SAS switch also is designed to provide the connectivity necessary to support virtual server environments, allowing organizations to realize the benefits of virtual machine migration while maintaining the management simplicity of DAS.

"The availability of 6Gb/s SAS switches will provide organizations from the SMB to the enterprise with a simple, low-cost and high-performance storage networking option," said Bob Laliberte, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. "The ability to share and pool storage across multiple hosts, coupled with increased connectivity offered by a SAS switch, will also enable organizations to more efficiently support virtualized server environments and tiered-storage solutions."

The LSI SAS6160 is a half-width 1U device designed for easy integration with existing SAS infrastructures. The switch features 16 non-blocking 4-lane-wide ports providing a 24Gb/s SAS connection per port, for an aggregate bandwidth of 384Gb/s. Utilizing JBOD or RBOD storage subsystems, the switch supports connectivity of up to 1,000 SATA and SAS devices, enabling customers to take advantage of larger SAS topologies with reduced discovery times.

A single SAS switch infrastructure can also address multiple classes of storage, enabling tiered-storage solutions through a mix of 3Gb/s and 6Gb/s, SATA and SAS end devices. In addition, incorporation of active cable support enables LSI SAS switches to be placed up to 25 meters apart, which is up to a 4X increase over the distance limitation of traditional passive copper cabling.

The LSI SAS6160 switch offers SAS domain management through the embedded SAS Domain Manager (SDM) utility. SDM offers port configuration and zoning, firmware management, diagnostics and viewing of the SAS topology, enabling reconfiguration without reconnecting cables or adding hardware.

An optional 1U mounting tray supports up to two LSI SAS6160 switches, allowing up to 32 SAS 2.0 ports or support for high-availability applications by using two switches with redundant data paths.

"The addition of the LSI SAS6160 switch complements the industry’s broadest portfolio of 6Gb/s SATA+SAS storage building block solutions available to the channel," said Brent Blanchard, director of worldwide channel sales and marketing, LSI. "With fully integrated management software and extensive end-to-end interoperability testing, customers can deploy with confidence a plug-and-play solution that can greatly extend the capabilities of their existing SAS-based environments."

"The LSI SAS6160 SAS Switch extends our DataONTM DNS 6Gb/s SAS product family to include high availability cluster implementations," said William Huang, president of dba Area Electronics Systems, Inc.. "Its compact size and powerful zoning capabilities enable many additional configuration options to large DAS subsystems while remaining within the easy to use 6Gb/s SAS infrastructure."

"Customers continue to be challenged to keep pace with escalating data volumes and storage solutions that boost performance and improve storage resource utilization are highly sought after," said David Logelin, executive vice president, Condre Storage. "The introduction of a 6Gb/s SAS switch from LSI will provide our server and storage customers with a cost-effective storage networking solution that extends the efficiency and data capacity of their existing SAS infrastructure investments while still maintaining management simplicity."

"Intersil is pleased to have helped LSI and the SCSI Trade Association define the Mini SAS Active Cable specification and extend the reach of copper connectivity," said Huibert Verhoeven, vice president and general manager, High-Speed Products Division, Intersil. "The LSI SAS6160 switch enables the use of Intersil’s breakthrough Q:Active technology allowing Mini SAS active copper cables to extend the applicability of SAS well beyond single racks to far-reaching corners of the data center."

"Nexenta and LSI are working together to create robust enterprise class storage solutions for resellers and customers that combine proven enterprise class SAS hardware from LSI with our ZFS-based NexentaStor software," said Jason Yoho, vice president of business development for Nexenta. "We believe in LSI’s vision for SAS and their SAS switching solution provides a powerful combination of high performance, ease of use and granular control at a revolutionary price point. We have certified the LSI SAS6160 switch with NexentaStor and plan to showcase the product at the upcoming OpenStorage Summit."

"The LSI SAS6160 SAS Switch is a natural extension to the broad LSI portfolio of 6Gb/s SATA and SAS storage building block solutions," said Bob Weisickle, chief technical officer, ZT Systems, Inc. "Embedding an easy to use zoning utility and providing for longer SAS cabling extends the switch functionality and completes all the elements to make SAS successful in IT data center installations. We look forward to providing the solution to our end user customers."

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